Actually, that's only partly true. I haven't used the cable until I installed 10. It worked in 9.1, Debian, Slax, PcLinuxOS, Morphix, Knoppix, DamnSmallLinux, Mepis, MandrakeMove, and WindowsXP. It didn't work without the cable under Windows 98 or Mandrake 10.
My assumption is that the digital output is not developed yet for the sound drivers that are compatible with the 2.6 kernel. You've got an added benefit with the cable. You aren't devoting some extra CPU cycles to produce sound digitally now. Your computer will have those extra FPS.
